(KG) LEG — UNDER THE DOME, BUT HEADED HOME Lobbyists met in the basement of the State Capitol Monday evening even as some legislative staff members headed for the door. House Democrats and Republicans met separately Monday evening to discuss party reaction to House Bill 1375, the state’s budget bill described as being as thick as a phone book. Karl Gehring/The Denver Post

A bipartisan cadre of lawmakers spent much of Wednesday brokering a deal that could reduce a proposed car registration fee hike or do away with it altogether.

Future funding for Colorado’s most dilapidated bridges remains in flux, with some favoring a Democrat- backed fee increase and others a Republican plan to divert $2.5 billion in the next decade from education money for roads.

Drivers will see a combination of the two, if Rep. Joe Rice, D-Littleton, gets his way. His ideal solution would include a smaller fee increase and diverting less money from the K-12 budget.

“The current status (of talks) is that everyone except me is a little hacked off,” Rice said. “But they’re all interested enough to solve this problem.”

Rice and 18 other lawmakers, mostly Democrats, last week introduced Senate Bill 244, which would add a $25 registration fee, a $6-a-day rental-car fee and an increase in the minimum annual ownership fee paid by drivers.

In sum, a driver could pay up to $97 more each year, bringing in $300 million annually for 122 bridges in critical condition as well as some roadways.

Rice said at the bill’s introduction that he was open to other solutions to improve road safety — which many say has reached crisis state in Colorado — including a plan by Grand Junction Republican Sen. Josh Penry to use education money.

In 2011, part of that guarantee — an extra 1 percent increase to help underfunded schools catch up — expires. Penry would use that 1 percent to fund roads and sock away money for economic downturns.

Penry said Sunday that he would try to amend his plan onto Rice’s bill, which could put an end to the new and increased registration fees.

By Wednesday, more lawmakers had entered the funding fray.

Rice said the higher ownership fee on vehicles will likely go away entirely. Drivers currently pay a tax according to the age and weight of their vehicles. As the cars age and lose value, the tax decreases to a minimum of $3 a year. As originally written, that minimum would have been increased to $75 under Rice’s bill.

Lawmakers also discussed an idea from Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo, to reduce or do away with the $6-a-day charge on car rentals.

Tapia declined to comment further on negotiations but said he may delay the bill’s hearing — slated for today — if no consensus is reached.

Gov. Bill Ritter said he would take a look at whatever bill arrived at his desk.

Ritter earlier this year floated a blue- ribbon panel’s suggestion that registration fees on Colorado’s 5 million drivers jump by an average of $100. The idea dissipated after public outcry.

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